Medieval scienceScience in the middle Ages comprised the study of nature, including practical disciplines, the mathematics and natural philosophy in medieval Europe. Following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and the decline in knowledge of Greek, Christian Western Europe was cut off from an important source of ancient learning. Although a range of Christian clerics and scholars maintained the spirit of rational inquiry, Western Europe would see during the Early Middle Ages(AD 476-1000) a period of intellectual stagnation. During the High Middle Ages(AD 1000-1300), however, the West had begun to reorganize itself and was on its way to taking again the lead in scientific discovery. Renaissance science spawned the Scientific Revolution; science and technology began a cycle of mutual advancement.
An intellectual revitalization of Europe started with the birth of medieval universities in the 12th century. The contact with the Islamic world in Spain and Sicily, and during the Reconquista and the Crusades, allowed Europeans access to scientific Greek and Arabic texts, including the works of Aristotle, Ptolemy, and others. European scholars had access to the translation programs of Raymond of Toledo, who sponsored the 12th century Toledo School of Translators from Arabic to Latin. Later translators like Michael Scotus would learn Arabic in order to study these texts directly. The European universities aided materially in the translation and propagation of these texts and started a new infrastructure which was needed for scientific communities. In fact, European university put many works about the natural world and the study of nature at the center of its its curriculum, with the result that the "medieval university laid far greater emphasis on science than does its modern counterpart and descendant."
revitalization [ˌri:ˌvaɪtəlaɪ'zeɪʃn] 新生；回阳；复活；恢复元气；
Reconquista：收复失地运动，又称再征服运动、列康吉斯达运动，是公元718至1492年间，西班牙人反对阿拉伯人占领，收复失地的运动。从 718年的科瓦东加战役开始，到1492年格拉纳达战役结束，共经历了8个世纪。 在西班牙语和葡萄牙语中，“Reconquista”一词有“重新征服”的意思。
Crusades：十字军东征（1096年－1291年）是一系列在罗马天主教教皇的准许下进行的、持续近200年的、有名的宗教性军事行动，由西欧的封建领主和骑士，对地中海东岸的国家，以收复阿拉伯入侵占领的土地名义发动的战争。前后共计有八次。
Toledo School of Translators：托莱多翻译院，通常指12－13世纪期间在托莱多声调的一群学者聚焦在一起，翻译古阿拉伯、古希腊和古希伯来语的哲学和科学著作；
Michael Scot (1175-c.1232) was a mathematician and scholar in the Middle Ages. Translator of Averroes and the greatest public intellectual of his days.[1] He served as science adviser and court astrologer to Frederick II.
curriculum [kə'rɪkjʊləm] 课程设置；课程表；课程安排；
As well as this, Europeans began to venture further and further east as a result of the Pax Mongolica. This led to the increased influence of Indian and even Chinese science on the European tradition. Technological advances were also made, such as the early flight of Eilmer of Malmesbury(who had studied Mathematics in 11th century England), and the metallurgical achievements of the Cistercian blast furnace at Laskill.
Pax Mongolica：拉丁词组，意为蒙古和平（Mongol Peace）。该词由西方学者创造，用来描述13－14世纪欧亚内地的大部分随着蒙古的大范围征服所带来的相对的和平时期。蒙古征服对东西经济、文化交流有促进之功，也间接启发了以后欧洲人的地理大发现乃至文艺复兴的开端；
Eilmer of Malmesbury：马姆斯伯里修道院的埃默，11世纪英国教士，以首次尝试带翼滑翔飞行而出名。他自己曾做了一对翅膀，然后从修道院塔顶跳出，飞了约200米；
metallurgical [ˌmetə'lɜ:dʒɪkl] 冶金学的；
Cistercian：熙笃会，是一个天主教隐修会。主张生活严肃，重个人清贫，终身吃素，每日凌晨即起身祈祷。
At the beginning of the 13th century there were reasonably accurate Latin translations of the main works of almost all the intellectually crucial ancient authors, allowing a sound transfer of scientific ideas via both the universities and the monasteries. By then, the natural philosophy contained in these texts began to be extended by notable scholastics such as Robert Gresseteste, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus and Duns Scotus. Precursors of the modern scientific method, influenced by earlier contributions of the Islamic world, can be seen already in Grosseteste's emphasis on mathermatics as a way to understand nature, and in the empirical approach admired by Bacon, particularly in his Opus Majus. Pierre Duhem's provocative thesis of the Catholic Church's Condemnation of 1277 led to the study of medieval science as a serious discipline,"but no one in the field any longer endorses his view that modern science started in 1277."
Robert Gresseteste (约1175-1253)：罗伯特·格罗斯泰斯特，英国政治家、经院哲学家、神学家和伦敦大主教；
Roger Bacon (1214-1292)：罗吉尔·培根，英国唯物主义思想家、伟大的科学家、著有《大著作》（Opus Majus）等；
Albertus Magnus：艾尔伯图斯·麦格努斯，德国理论家、主教、科学家，博学多才，被誉为“百科学博士”；
Duns Scotus (约1265-1308)：邓斯·司各脱，苏格兰中世纪时期的经院哲学家、神学家、唯名论者。他提出了物质具有思维能力的推测，其论据是天主是万能的，故而可以让物质具有思维的能力。著有《巴黎论著》《牛津论著》《问题论丛》等；
Pierre Duhem (1861-1916)：杜恒，法国物理学家、数学家和科学哲学家；
Roger Bacon(1214-1292)↑
The first half of the 14th century saw much important scientific work being done, largely within the framework of scholastic commentaries on Aristotle's scientific writings. William of Ockham introduced the principle of parsimony: natural philosophers should not postulate unnecessary entities, so that motion is note a distinct thing but is only the moving object and an intermediary "sensible species" is not needed to transmit an image of an object to the eye. Scholars such as Jean Buridan and Nicole Oresme started to reinterpret elements of Aristotle's mechanics. In particular, Buridan developed the theory that impetus was the cause of the motion of projectiles, which was a first step towards the modern concept of inertia. The Oxford Calculators began to mathematically analyze the kinematics of motion, making this analysis without considering the causes of motion.
William of Ockham (约1285-1349)：奥卡姆的威廉，出生于英格兰的萨里郡奥卡姆。逻辑学家、圣方济各会修士。他能言善辩，被人称为“驳不倒的博士”。主要著作有《箴言书注》《逻辑大全》《辩论集7篇》等；
parsimony ['pɑ:sɪməni] 悭吝；吝啬；小气，过度节俭；简约性；过分节俭；
Jean Buridan (1292-1363)：让·布里丹，法国哲学家，经院哲学博士，欧洲宗教怀疑主义倡导者。在西方1340年，再造了冲力说理论；
Nicole Oresme (约1320-1382)：尼克尔·奥里斯姆，是中古晚斯最知名、最具影响力的哲学家之一。本身为经济学家、数学家、物理学家、天文学家、哲学家、心理学家、音乐学家、神学家，也是近代科学主要奠基者之一。
projectile [prə'dʒektaɪl] 射弹；抛射体；火箭；抛体运动；
kinematic [ˌkɪnɪ'mætɪk]【物】运动学(上)的；
William of Ockham(约1285-1349)↑
In 1348, the Black Death and other disasters sealed a sudden end to the previous period of massive philosophic and scientific development. Yet, the rediscovery of ancient texts was improved after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, when many Byzantine scholars had to seek refuge in the West. Meanwhile, the introduction of printing was to have great effect on European society. The facilitated dissemination of the printed word democratized learning and allowed a faster propagation of new ideas. New ideas also helped to influence the development of European science at this point: not least the introduction of Algebra. These developments paved the way for the Scientific Revolution, which may also be understood as a resumption of the process of scientific change, halted at the start of the Black Death.
Medieval TechnologyBlack Death：黑死病约在1340年代散布整个欧洲，欧洲约占人口总数30%的人死于黑死病；
Fall of Constantinople：1453年5月，拜占庭首都君士坦丁堡被奥斯曼土耳其帝国攻陷，是世界历史中的一件大事。它不仅代表着拜占庭千年帝国的落幕，新兴伊斯兰强权的崛起，更为欧洲、近东带来了政治、经济、文化上的深刻变化，甚至一度被作为中世纪结束的标志之一。在长达7周的战役中，双方不论民族、信仰，均表 现出惊人的英雄气节与坚韧，荡气回肠，令人动容。
Algebra：代数是研究数、数量、关系、结构与代数方程（组）的通用解法及其性质的数学分支。初等代数一般在中学时讲授，介绍代数的基本思想：研究当我们对数字作加法或乘法时会发生什么，以及了解变量的概念和如何建立多项式并找出它们的根。代数的研究对象不仅是数字，而是各种抽象化的结构。常见的代数结构类型有群、环、域、模、线性空间等。
After the Renaissance of the 12th century, medieval Europe saw a radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic growth. The period saw major technological advances, including the adoption of gunpowder, the invention of vertical windmills, spectacles, mechanical clocks, and greatly improved water mills, building techniques(Gothic style, medieval castle), agriculture in general(three-field crop rotation).
Renaissance：12世纪的文艺复兴，是欧洲中世纪早期和中期的一段社会、政治、经济发生剧变，哲学和科学的源头重新被找回的时期。这一段时期为15世纪意大利文学和艺术的变化以及17世纪的科学革命铺路。
The development of water mills from its ancient origins was impressive, and extended from agriculture to sawmill both for timber and stone. By the time of the Domesday Book, most large villages had turnable mills, around 6500 in England alone. Water-power was also widely used in mining for raising ore from shafts, crushing ore, and even powering bellows.
Domesday Book：末日审判书，是1086年征服者威廉实施的英格兰的人口普查。，调查结果是英格兰约有150万人口，其中90%以上是农民；
ore [ɔː(r)] 矿；矿石；矿砂；
European technical advancements in the 12th to 14th centuries were either built on long-established techniques in medieval Europe, originating from Roman and Byzantine antecedents, or adapted from cross-cultural exchanges through trading networks with the Islamic world, China, and India. Often, the revolutionary aspect lay not in the act of invention itself, but in its technological refinement and application to political and economic power. Though gunpowder had long been known to the Chinese, it was the Europeans who developed and perfected its military potential, precipitating European expansion and eventual imperialism in the Modern Era.
Also significant in this respect were advances in maritime technology. Advances in shipbuilding included the multi-masted ships with lateen sails, the sternpost-mounted rudder and the skeleton-first hull construction. Along with new navigational techniques such as the dry compass, the Jacob's staff and the astrolabe, these allowed economic and military control of all seas adjacent to Europe and enabled the global navigational achievements of the dawning Age of Exploration.
lateen [læ'tiːn] 三角帆；三角帆船，(地中海上帆船用的)三角帆的；
dry compass：旱罗盘，约在1300年在欧洲发明；
astrolabe ['æstrəleɪb]星盘（旧时用于测量天体高度等），等高仪；观象仪；星盘号；
Age of Exploration：探索时代或大航海时代，指从15世纪到17世纪时期内，欧洲的船队出现在世界各处的海洋上，寻找着新的贸易路线和贸易伙伴，以及发展欧洲新生的资本主义。
At the turn to the Renaissance, Gutenberg's invention of mechanical printing made possible a dissemination of knowledge to a wider population, that would not only lead to a gradually more egalitarian society, but one more able to dominate other cultures, drawing from a vast reserve of knowledge and experience. The technical drawings of late medieval artist-engineers Guido da Vigevano and Villard de Honnecourt can be viewed as forerunners of later Renaissance works such as Taccola or da Vinci.
Gutenberg (1398-1468) [ˈɡu:tnbə:ɡ] 古登堡，第一位发明活字印刷术的欧洲人。1455年他发明了铅活字凸版机械印刷机。；
Guido da Vigevano 维杰瓦诺，意大利内科医生和发明家，以描绘大量的技术条目和精巧的设备的素描本而著名；
Villard de Honnecourt 维拉尔德·奥内库尔，法国13世纪的艺术家，因其现在的含有33张描写降落伞的文件而出名；
Taccola 塔科拉，早期文艺复兴时期意大利管理者、艺术家和工程师，因其艺术专著而出名；
da Vinci (1452-1519) 达·芬奇，意大利文艺复兴三杰之一(另外两位是拉斐尔，米开朗基罗)，也是整个欧洲文艺复兴时期最完善的代表。
da Vinci (1452-1519)↑
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